Rock-Hard Love
by Emolgaa
Summary: As High School students, Roxanne and Brawly are close friends. Brawly finds out Roxanne has a crush on him, but leaves to Quest Island for training after they graduate. One-shot Rocksmashshipping.


**I don't know about you guys, but Rocksmashshipping (Roxanne x Brawly) is one of my top OTPs! This ship should really be more well known..**

-][-

'Roxanne,' Brawly questioned, 'have ya ever been to Granite Cave?'

The petite girl turned around to face the surfer. 'Granite Cave? The one north of Dewford? No, why?'

Brawly shrugged. 'Just asking. Especially since ya spend so much time in the Rusturf tunnel. I figured that, y'know, ya might like the Granite Cave as well. It actually has Rock type Pokémon, and some rare stones. Unlike the tunnel, which only have Whismur.'

'Hey!' Roxanne protested. 'What's wrong with Whismur? They're cute!'

The blue haired teen rolled his eyes. 'Oh yeah, I forgot. It's not like they cry every moment of their life, frighten themselves with their own cries and then fall asleep out of exhaustion or anything!'

The brunette huffed, scowling at her friend. 'So what? I like the Rusturf tunnel.'

'Anyways,' Brawly said with mock enthusiasm, 'back to Granite Cave. Wanna go there with me sometime?'

'Me?! Go with you?!' Roxanne choked on the apple juice she was sipping, her face turning red. 'I-I don't know…'

Brawly's face fell visibly. 'Oh, well. I guess I can't force ya…'

'N-no!' Roxanne said hurriedly. 'I-I didn't mean it that way!'

Pretending not to hear, Brawly stood up, picked up his lunch, and walked out of the canteen. The student buried her head in her hands, wishing she would stop acting so stupidly around him.

-][-

'Hey, Brawly!'

Brawly looked up. It was Wallace. 'Oh. Hi.'

Wallace frowned. 'You're acting weird. What's wrong?'

'It's, uh…I don't know where to start.' Brawly sighed, slumping onto a tree.

'You don't have to tell me,' Wallace offered. '…But I would still like to know.'

'I should tell ya, as much as I don't want to,' the surfer admitted. 'I need to get it out of my mind. Just don't laugh.'

'Got it!' Wallace nodded, indicating for his friend to continue. 'I'm all ears.'

Brawly took a deep breath, closing his eyes and leaning on the tree trunk. His friend sat down beside him. 'Where do I begin…oh. Alright; ya know Roxanne?'

'If you're talking about the know-it-all girl in our year, then yes.' Wallace knew where this was going, but didn't say anything about it.

'Well, I–' Brawly halted his sentence to cover his face with his hands. 'I can't do this.'

'It's alright,' Wallace said softly. 'I get it. You don't have to say it.'

'Okay then,' Brawly continued, 'earlier on, I was asking her if she wanted to go to the Gra–'

'Brawly!'

Wallace turned, then raised an eyebrow. 'I assume that's your call.'

He was right. Brawly faced the direction Wallace was facing, to see Roxanne running toward them, which was quite a sight, considering Brawly had never seen her run before. 'Oh.'

'I'll leave now.' Wallace stood up. He patted Brawly's shoulder lightly. 'Good luck.'

'Thanks, Wallace,' the blue haired teen muttered; before Roxanne arrived at the tree he was sitting at.

'B-brawly,' Roxanne panted, 'I'm so sorry! I-I didn't mean to insult you, or anything–'

'It's alright.' Brawly cut her off. 'It's all good. I forgive ya.'

Apparently Roxanne wasn't expecting such a quick forgiveness; her eyes widened in surprise. 'R-really?'

Brawly grinned. 'Only if you come to Granite Cave with me!'

-][-

Roxanne shivered. 'It's so dark…'

She took a step forward, cautiously and carefully. The pitch-black Granite Cave was quiet, and it creeped Roxanne out to no end.

'Haha! Never knew ya were afraid of the dark,' Brawly laughed. 'Anyway, do you have a Pokémon that has the move Flash?'

'Um, yeah.' Roxanne reached into her dress pocket, pulling out a Pokeball. 'Lileep!'

The fossil Pokémon materialised in front of Roxanne and Brawly.

'Now,' Roxanne commanded, 'use Flash!'

The Lileep obliged, making its body glow and lighting up the cave slightly.

'Thanks, Lileep.'

'Right,' Brawly said. 'Let's go! Lead the way, Lil–'

'No!' Roxanne cut the surfer off. 'Only _I_ can command _my_ Lileep. Lileep, lead us!'

_Typical Roxanne, _Brawly thought, rolling his eyes. _She hasn't changed a bit._

They started walking, Roxanne's Lileep lighting up the dark path in front of them.

'Where exactly are we going, anyway?' Roxanne asked. 'You never specified.'

'Oh, who cares? Just follow me. We're going to a place with rocks. Lot of them,' Brawly insisted. 'Trust me.'

Roxanne was quiet for a moment. _Did_ she trust him? The student shook her head, brushing the thought off.

'We're here!' Brawly announced. 'Just into this little hole.'

He pointed at a tiny hole in the wall of the cavern, roughly about the size of a Pokeball. Roxanne stared at the indent, eyes wide.

'You expect _me_ to fit into _that_?!'

'Hahaha! 'Cos not!' Brawly laughed. 'Your expression was hilarious, though!'

'S-stop fooling around! Just show me the place you were talking about!' Roxanne fumed. 'And hurry!'

'Whoa,' Brawly said, raising his hands up in defense. 'Don't get all angry at me, Roxy.'

'Don't call me that!' Roxanne was just about done. 'Or I'm going to leave!'

'Oh, really?' The surfer smirked. 'Would ya know the way out?'

'Y-you!'

'Right. Now be a good girl, and wait.' Brawly shoved his hand into his pocket, and pulled out a Pokeball. 'Makuhita!'

He called out his Fighting Type Pokémon, who called out its name proudly, pounding its chest. 'Use Secret Power on the indent!'

Brawly's Makuhita nodded, doing a series of punches onto the indent and making a human-sized hole in the wall.

'There,' Brawly smiled. 'This is the place.'

'Wait,' Roxanne said, narrowing her eyes. 'You only just made the hole. How would you have known about this particular spot before?'

'Well,' Brawly laughed sheepishly, 'I guess you're foolproof. You're a sharp one indeed, Roxanne.'

'I-I don't care!' the brunette shrieked, blood rushing to her face at the compliment. 'Just tell me why you lied!'

'I didn't lie, Roxy–Roxanne, I mean. I simply didn't tell ya the full truth. I _know_ ya hate it when people lie to ya–'

'Shut up!'

'–so I apologise for not telling ya the full truth. Now, shall we go and find some rare stones?'

-][-

'Look here!' Roxanne gasped. She picked up the stone. It was a light gray colour, and was round and smooth. 'It's an extremely rare Everstone!'

'Hm?' Brawly walked over to Roxanne's corner. 'Oh yeah, the stone that prevents a Pokémon from evolving when held.'

'Yup!'

'Why don't ya give it to that Steven boy?' Brawly suggested.

'Whaaaaaat?!' Roxanne hadn't been more flustered; her cheeks turned as red as a Tamato Berry.

'Yeah.' Brawly's face contorted into something Roxanne didn't recognise. Was that…jealousy? 'Ya like him, don't you? He's smart, likes rocks, just like ya do.'

'No! Brawly! You've got it all wrong–'

'And he has good grades, too. Don't ya like people who have good grades? Besides, you talk to him a lot.'

'Brawly! Shut it!' Roxanne shouted. Her voice echoed around the small room. 'You're confused. I talk to him a lot because he is my _cousin_! I don't like him that way.'

'Oh, I see.' Brawly looked down. 'I'm sorry.'

'No, it's fine. I like someone else, anyways–' Roxanne's hands flew to her mouth, but Brawly had already heard it.

'You what? You like someone else? Who is it?' Brawly grinned; he had something to tease her about.

'I-I'm not telling you!' Roxanne shot back immediately, blushing for the umpteenth time that day. 'Never!'

Brawly pouted. 'Aw, c'mon! You can tell me!'

'No!'

'I guess I'll have to do it the hard way!' The young surfer smirked, leaning forward and extending his hand to tickle the student. Roxanne shrieked, trying not to laugh while attempting to punch the slightly older teen.

'Ga! Get off me!' Roxanne struggled but to no avail; Brawly was too strong.

'Only if you tell me who ya like!'

'Why are you even so interested?!'

Brawly didn't hear, or did a good job pretending not to, because he didn't reply.

'F-fine! I'll tell you!' Roxanne gasped for air as Brawly finally released her from his grip. 'It's just…'

'Who is it?' Brawly inquired once more. 'Wallace? Sidney?'

'Nope.'

'Who is it, then? I can't think of anyone else you would like!'

Roxanne shut her eyes, leaning her back on the wall of the tiny cavern. 'It's you.'

Brawly didn't say anything. The student took that chance to escape, running out of their base and escaping the Granite Cave. Or at least, she tried to; Roxanne got lost within the first five minutes of running.

_Curses!_ she thought. _I can't get out of here, not without Brawly…_

'Roxanne!' Brawly's voice called out. 'Get outta here! The cave's collapsing!'

'I have no time for your pranks, Brawly!' Roxanne yelled back, slumping onto the ground, her back against the wall. 'I'm lost.'

'Why would I lie about that?! I'm concerned about your safety! I don't want you to get trapped in here! I don't want you to–' Brawly choked on his words. 'I don't want you to die!'

Roxanne's eyes widened. 'Brawly…'

'Where are you?'

'Um, I'm at a dead end, I think!'

'Feel around the walls! If there's one spot that's softer than the rest of the wall, apply pressure!'

'Oh…Okay!'

Roxanne placed her palm on the smooth surface of the wall, gliding it and feeling for a soft spot. Finally, her thumb touched a piece of soft wall, and she immediately starting pressing on it with one hand. Suddenly, the wall she was pressing on shattered, as if it were glass, and a new passageway opened up before her.

'…Brawly?'

Roxanne stared in front of her. There Brawly stood, soot covering his otherwise perfect face. Then he opened his arms, grinning his usual grin as if nothing was wrong. She ran to him, fear coursing through her veins and tears filling her eyes, glad to be wrapped up in his embrace.

'Let's go now, Roxanne,' he whispered. 'Before we're both trapped.'

Brawly leaned down to kiss her cheek, before grabbing her wrist and leading Roxanne out of the cave.

-][-

'Long time no see, eh Roxanne?'

'B-brawly!'

It was the weekly Pokémon Association meeting for the Hoenn Leaders once again. Roxanne had recently become appointed at the Rustboro City gym leader, just a few weeks after passing the gym leader test with flying colours.

'So, Roxy, you're the new gym leader everyone's been talking about!' Brawly grinned his dashing smile, making Roxanne's heart flutter the way it had four years ago.

'Don't call me that!' Roxanne retorted, before both she and Brawly burst out laughing.

'Ahem.' Winona, gym leader of Fortree City, cleared her throat. 'I presume you know each other?'

'Oh uh, you could say that…' Roxanne blushed, thinking about the enjoyable times she and her former schoolmate had before graduating. 'We were dating before Brawly left for Quest Island to train with Bruno from the Kanto Elite Four. We haven't seen each other since..'

From the corner of the room, Wattson laughed and clapped. 'WATT a nice story! HAHAHAHA!'

Flannery, who was sitting next to Roxanne, rolled her eyes and whispered to the rock type specialist, 'Don't mind him and his bad jokes. He's always like that…'

'I guess that's something I'll have to live with. I'm Roxanne, and you are…?' Roxanne asked the younger gym leader.

'Oh!' Flannery chuckled lightly. 'I forgot to introduce myself. I'm Flannery, proud gym leader of Lavaridge Town, and a fire type user!'

'Anyways,' Winona interrupted, 'congratulations on becoming a gym leader, Roxanne! You are now one of us. It's good to know that you already know someone here–' She glanced at Brawly '–so you wouldn't feel too out of place. By the way, my name is Winona, and I am in charge of the Fortree Gym. I am also the advisor of all Hoenn leaders. Alright, now, who hasn't arrived yet?'

-][-

'Hey! Roxanne, wait for me!'

Roxanne stopped walking to turn around. 'Hm? Oh, Brawly.'

'Nice to see you again, after all those years.'

'Yeah…what happened, though? Why didn't you contact me after you came back to Hoenn?' Roxanne had a pained expression on her face, remembering the days of waiting relentlessly for the blue haired main to return home.

'I'm sorry, Roxanne.' Brawly kissed her forehead lightly, causing Roxanne to blush like she did so four years ago. 'I really am. But I left my PokéGear at Quest Island.'

'You what?!' Roxanne fumed. 'There I was hoping that you'd give me some reasonable answer!'

'Well, you haven't changed at all, and I love every bit about that.'

'I–'

'Love you too, Roxy.'

Brawly leaned down, now face-to-face to his girlfriend. He pressed his lips to hers, and Roxanne decided that she couldn't have been happier.

-][-

**That's done! I hope y'all like it! Time to continue other writing projects. Peace out!**


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